Sierra Leone anti-graft body ends probe involving Limkokwing University
Sierra Leone’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has ended a probe involving Malaysia’s Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT), confirming that the country's former education, science and technology minister Minkailu Bah, had enabled a campus to be set up without following due processes.
In a tweet on Thursday, the ACC's Chief Commissioner Francis Ben Kaifala said that "the ACC had completed investigating the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology Malaysia in Sierra Leone and the former minister of education, science and technology, the late Dr Minkailu Bah, for alleged misappropriation of public property and revenue, abuse of office, and abuse of position; all contrary to Sections 42, 43 and 48 of the Anti-Corruption Act, 2008, respectively...
Sierra Leone’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has ended a probe involving Malaysia’s Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT), confirming that the country's former education, science and technology minister Minkailu Bah, had enabled a campus to be set up without following due processes.
In a tweet on Thursday, the ACC's Chief Commissioner Francis Ben Kaifala said that "the ACC had completed investigating the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology Malaysia in Sierra Leone and the former minister of education, science and technology, the late Dr Minkailu Bah, for alleged misappropriation of public property and revenue, abuse of office, and abuse of position; all contrary to Sections 42, 43 and 48 of the Anti-Corruption Act, 2008, respectively.
"The investigations confirmed that Dr Minkailu Bah single-handedly agreed with the LUCT for its establishment as a private university in Sierra Leone in 2013, without following the due process as provided in the Laws that govern tertiary public education in Sierra Leone; which resulted in committing the Government of Sierra Leone to serious financial obligations," it said.
According to the probe's report, a key stipulation of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) was that the Sierra Leone government would provide campus space for the university and scholarships for 1,200 students per annum.
The ACC said that in the course of its five-month investigations Bah had passed away on May 18.
The investigations revealed that the agreement did not mention the fees each student was required to pay for each academic year although Bah had claimed that the fee structure had already been discussed with former financial secretary Edmund Koroma.
Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Finance, however, denied any involvement in the agreement.
The fees later amounted to US$3,000 per degree student and US$2,500 per diploma student, per annum, which was substantially higher than the tuition fees set by other universities within the nation, said to be between US$1,000 and US$1,500, said the report.
The ACC also found that the Sierra Leone government owes US$3 million to LUCT, US$2 million of which were revenues for one academic year and were paid in 2018.
It claimed that this was a “huge variance,” although the number of students currently enrolled at the Freetown campus cannot be confirmed.
Ben Kaifala said that following the conclusion of the investigations the ACC had made a number of recommendations to the Sierra Leone government stakeholders.
This included the recommendation that the Sierra Leone Ministry of Higher and Technical Education and Ministry of Finance engage LUCT for a thorough review of the MOA, especially on the fees structure, and seek ratification on the agreement from its parliament.
No response to queries
Malaysiakini has attempted to contact both founder Lim Kok Wing for whom the university is named and the LUCT for a response to these developments.
Malaysiakini called the LUCT Cyberjaya campus and was told that it is closed until Aug 31 and that there are no longer any members of the media team available to speak to the press.
An email to Lim Kok Wing's personal email account has also gone unanswered.
The probe in Sierra Leone has caught the attention of Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming who tweeted that "these are very serious accusations against Limkowwing (LUCT)'s activities in Sierra Leone. This is not the first time this issue has been reported".
The Sierra Leone investigation comes even as LUCT in Malaysia is being probed by the Higher Education Ministry who issued it with a show-cause letter demanding an explanation following the controversial "King of Africa" billboard.
LUCT came under fire in June after former students and staff took to social media accusing the university of racism over the billboard.
Higher Education Minister Noraini Ahmad has twice told the Dewan Rakyat that said the probe is ongoing, even though the university had apologised over the incident.
"The ministry [...] takes seriously the racism accusation against the management of LUCT as circulated in social media," Noraini told the Dewan Rakyat in a parliamentary reply on July 15.
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